Writing The Scots I Know....

Come and visit me at Anne E. Johnsons blog today, and see how I decided to write the way I wrote.....:)

ANOTHER 5 Stars for Edinburgh Fog!

Author Lindsay Townsend has given Edinburgh Fog a 5 star review, so you can imagine I'm well chuffed!

'If you fancy a trip to Scotland, then please read Jane Richardson's `Edinburgh Fog'. It's full of the sounds, smells, sights and sounds of that amazing city, and more. The story is one of love lost and then recovered, a haunting, beautiful tale that stays long in the memory......'

You can read the whole thing here!

#SampleSunday - Julia reappears, from 'Edinburgh Fog.'

“Hiya, boss. So where did you hide the body?” Ben’s deep Edinburgh brogue lent itself particularly well to sarcasm. Behind Ben, Chrissie Henderson, Greg’s bar manager and second-in-command, gawped goggle-eyed around Ben’s lofty shoulder.

“What body?” Greg looked down at his blood-spattered shirt front. “Aw, no, would you look at that! I cut myself shaving. I thought I’d staunched it.”

Ben laughed as he tipped ground coffee into the pot and filled it with hot water. “Lucky there’s a spare shirt hanging in the office.”

Greg groaned. “But not so lucky, it’s one of yours.” The reason Ben could never do Saturday afternoon shifts was that he spent them propping up the back row of the Edinburgh Academicals’ rugby third fifteen. Borrowing a shirt from a rugby player like Ben would be like draping himself in a beer tent.

“Maybe I can cover it,” Greg suggested, adjusting his Tellers’ staff tie. At three inches wide, it was still three inches too narrow to cover the stains.

“Aye, right.” Ben grinned. “On the other hand, you could wear the clean shirt and just keep puffing out your chest for the rest of the day so it looks like it fits you.”

Greg admitted defeat. “I’ll go and put it on. Give me a minute.” He eyed the pot of coffee. “Have you just made that for a customer?”

“Table six.” Ben made to pick up the pot, and then caught the determined gleam in Greg’s eye. He sighed heavily, and slammed the plunger down. “It’s all yours, boss. I’ll make them another.”

Five minutes later, ignoring Ben’s hearty guffaws, Greg emerged back into the bar. He’d tucked the enormous shirt into his jeans as best he could, but it felt like wearing a bedspread. The sleeves bunched up underneath the arms of his waistcoat, no matter how many times he rolled back his shoulders to make it more comfortable. Ah, well. At least he could congratulate himself on his self-imposed and totally egalitarian uniform policy. Even though he was sole owner of Tellers’, he still dressed the same as everyone else...even if he looked utterly ridiculous.

Lunchtime was the usual Friday affair, trainee lawyers and giggling office-girls from the Georgian-pillared businesses in Queen Street and Charlotte Square. The booze they knocked back made sure the most efficient thing they’d achieve that afternoon was a spectacular slump over a desk. Three o’clock came and went, bringing its throng of no-class-but-plenty-of-cash Edinburgh WAGS, all done in after hours of nail extensions, Brazilian waxes and clearing the designer concession rails in Jenners department store. They ordered sustenance in the form of Tellers’ own coffee blend and plates of Danish pastries, which they prodded with forks but left uneaten.

After they’d cleared out, Tellers’ was at last blessed with a couple of hours’ peace. The staff heaved a collective sigh and set to preparing the place for the Friday evening crowd. Nothing eventful happened except Chrissie tripping over Ben as he knelt behind the bar to re-stack the mixers shelf and tipping half a bottle of vermouth and a bowl of stuffed olives down the back of his neck. Ben took it in good part, commenting that while he smelled like a martini, he was only stirred and not at all shaken.

Leaving them to clean up as he sliced lemons and limes for the bar, Greg mused on whether the olive incident counted as Thing Number Three, and was on the point of convincing himself that definitely, absolutely nothing else could possibly go wrong for the rest of the day, when she walked in.

Julia.

Greg froze, hypnotized by the reflection shimmering in the long mirror behind the bar. It disappeared briefly, moving out of his line of vision and he stepped sideways, following the mirror along the wall, seeking her out if only to convince himself that it couldn’t possibly be her — that Julia hadn’t just walked back into his life four years after he’d walked out of hers.

Read a Five-Star review and buy Edinburgh Fog in all its formats including Kindle here at MuseItUp Publishing.

The One-Link Lowdown on...Adriana Ryan!

Adriana Ryan is an exciting new author whose debut novel Her Heart's Desire will be released by MuseItUp Publishing in March 2012.

Welcome, Adriana - and let's go with the questions!

If you could retrieve one thing from your childhood, what would it be?

This GIANT marble I used to own. It was an incredible deep green color, and I was so proud of it! I still think about it sometimes. Don’t ask me why, because I have no clue either.


Tell us three surprising things about yourself, one of which is a fib - and we'll try to guess the fib!

Ooh, I love this game! Okay, here goes:

- I own so much makeup that I have a makeup “train case,” which is essentially a briefcase professional makeup artists use to tote their “offices” around.

- I have never had a broken bone.

- My inner nerd gorges on virtually everything in the field of discrete mathematics.

What would be your perfect day?

I’d wake up to a sunny day, write a satisfying scene, hear the sounds of a happy family in my home, and read a great book till I drifted off.


What’s on your bedside table/nightstand?

My glasses! I am essentially blind without them, and some people claim I’ve crooned to a pair of boots by the bed, thinking that they were my cat. Ahem – no comment.


What’s your favourite piece of music?

This changes according to what’s going on in my life, what I’m writing (especially what I’m writing, actually! Each story comes with songs that sound “right” and ones that don’t), and what I have access to. Right now I’m loving “Just a Girl” by No Doubt. Girl power!


What's your guilty pleasure?

Netflix streaming! I am strongly anti-cable television as far as my family goes, but I just can’t help myself. It’s like I get addicted, have to watch all the episodes they have of one show, and then I go off of it for a while. For instance, I had a phase where I couldn’t get enough of the free Law and Order episodes. Then it was Intervention, and now it’s Monk! TV’s such a waste of time and brain power when you have kids and need those last bits of reserve for your writing, but alas, I do not heed my own advice!


Which household chore would you happily give up forever?

Oh, God. Folding clothes. I mean, who even came up with that? It’s so arbitrary!


If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I so wish I had better self-confidence. Being a writer is awesome, but it also means that you can be isolated all day if you want. Sometimes just talking to other people feels like a foreign language.


What single invention would change your life for the better?

A magic clothes-folding-contraption! It would take my clothes from the dryer, fold them, and put them where they belong.


Aside from writing achievements, family, etc - what are you most proud of?

The sense of genuine caring I have for the world. I am a compulsive volunteering machine.

And now, it's confession time! - the fib is that my inner nerd gorges on anything in discrete mathematics. I’m, in actuality, a total forensic psychology nut. In fact, it’s what I’ve selected to be my “day job.” The other two, unfortunately, are totally true – I have a severe eyeshadow addiction, and I guess I have super Calcium-infused bones!

Thanks so much for being my guest, Adriana - it's been a joy getting to know you. Good luck with all your future projects!

To find out more about the fabulous Adriana Ryan, visit her One-Link HERE!

AMAZING first review!

I'm stunned by this fabulous 5-Star review from writer Christine London, who went as far as to say she'd have given Edinburgh Fog SIX stars if she could! Here's a snippet:

Poignant, tender, wrenching, romantic and oh-so real-- Edinburgh Fog packs more emotional punch and deeper characterization in its thirty two pages than most books do in three hundred. Every phrase, every word so perfectly chosen, it engenders both the joy in, and painful regret of a relationship ended too soon......It will command your heart like love at first sight.

Read the rest of Christine's amazing review here at Amazon.com.

9000 lovely words - buy it at Muse It Up Publishing here!

Blurb: When Greg Morton returned to Edinburgh, it was to follow his dream of opening the smartest bar-bistro in town. Now Tellers’ is a huge success—but the truth is, deep inside, it means little without the love of his life.

Four years ago, he left Julia Brady behind in London to realize his business ambitions in his Scottish home town. By the time he’d recognized his mistake and admitted to himself he wanted her back, the grapevine told him Julia had moved on—and Greg had to face the fact that he’d been a fool.

When Julia appears out of the blue in Tellers’, he knows the only thing he should do is walk right up to her and say hello. But it looks like someone else has their sights set on her, and he’s a quick worker.

Is Julia about to disappear from Greg's life a second time - this time, for good?

Excerpt: ' “Another pot of coffee, boss.”

Ben shattered Greg’s getaway plans as he slapped his notepad on the marble bar-top. “And Mr. Smarty over there says could that be with hot milk, because he wants a macchiato caldo, not freddo. I told him the milk comes hot out of the machine anyway, and is Freddo no’ that wee bloke with the big feet out Lord of the Rings? Don’t get smart-arsed with me, pal, is what I really wanted to say.” Ben curled a lip and turned to face the growing crowd in the bar as he waited for Greg to top up another coffee jug. “Mind you, for a smart arse, he must have something.”

Greg glanced over at the object of Ben’s ire. “How’s that?”

Ben gesticulated with his chin towards Julia’s table. “Look at him! Manky wee ginger git, and he’s got those gorgeous babes with him. What’s he got that I haven’t?”

“Well, let’s think.” Chrissie wandered over from the other end of the bar to join in the conversation. “Wit? Intelligence? Charm and personality?” she offered, giving Greg a sly wink. Any opportunity to wind up Ben about his ways with women usually wasn’t to be missed, but tonight Greg’s heart wasn’t in it. He pulled out a wooden tray inscribed with the Tellers’ logo and set the coffee pot down. “Probably just friends from work.” He half-filled a stainless steel jug with milk, jammed it under the foamer nozzle and let it rip.

Chrissie wrinkled her nose and nodded. “He doesn’t look like the world’s greatest lover to me, Ben. Your crown’s safe, big man.”

Ben grinned as he reached for the tray. “Aye. You’re right there. Watch me go.”

Greg frowned. “Go where?”

“To show lover-boy how it’s done, what do you think?” He flicked a look over his shoulder. “Those babes’ll be nibbling their complimentary biscotti from my hand before I’m done. Man, oh, man...gimme an older woman any day. There’s no substitute for experience. What age do you reckon?”

“Twenty-nine,” Greg said, with much more precision than he’d intended to let show. “Or thereabouts,” he added lamely, relieved Ben hadn’t noticed the fact that Greg could have given him Julia’s date, time and place of birth too, had he asked.

Ben tipped his head, weighing up the facts. “A bit older than my usual conquests, but then, what’s life if not a challenge, eh, boss?” He balanced the tray high on one hand and sauntered in the direction of Julia’s table, six-pack abs and butt muscles on display, looking like a walking anatomy chart.'

EDINBURGH FOG RELEASES TODAY!!

Find out more in my blog posts 'Scots As She Is Spoken' over at British Romance Fiction,

and 'The Love of Your Life,' at Lindsay's Romantics.

And last but definitely not least, you can buy BUY Edinburgh Fog in all its formats from Muse It Up Publishing.

Happy Day!